Neuroscience

News Item

ABSTRACT
5-HT is known to increase the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) in the crayfish neuromuscular junction, but it is not known how 5-HT does this. It is possible that 5-HT acts through IP3-induced intracellular Ca2+release. To test this, we bathed a...

View this article as PDF: Garwood, Papachristoudis, Peralta, and Rowlison
ABSTRACT
Internal calcium stores have been shown to have an effect on synaptic transmission. Our objective in this experiment was to see how the depletion or inhibition of internal calcium stores would...

Grinnellians in Neuroscience: Foundations, Future, and Fallacies, a 200-level neuroscience course, celebrated Brain Week 2013 with Grinnell Middle School students.
The students hosted them at the college and lead them through neuroscience-related activities such as:
Seeing how...

ABSTRACT
Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM) is a protein that can bind to and activate a variety of target proteins within the pre- and postsynaptic cells of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). An important presynaptic CaM target is CaM-kinase II (CaMKII). Upon activation, CaMKII has been...

View this article as PDF: Goldsmith, Granera, and Wolfe
ABSTRACT
Argireline is an anti-wrinkle agent that is proposed to work in the presynaptic cell of the neuromuscular junction by mimicking the structure of a presynaptic protein and preventing the interaction between SNARE...

ABSTRACT
Synaptic plasticity is a fundamental property of the vertebrate central nervous system and is thought to be involved in learning and memory processes. In the presynaptic terminal, mitochondria regulate synaptic plasticity by influencing neurotransmitter release. To...

ABSTRACT
Endocannabinoids are involved in retrograde messaging in neurons. Recent studies have found evidence of endocannabinoids and CB1 receptors at the neuromuscular junction of vertebrates as well as in some invertebrates. We attempted to explain how endocannabinoids...

ABSTRACT
Nitric oxide (NO) plays a critical role in the CNS in higher animals and at the lizard neuromuscular junction (NMJ), modulating synaptic transmission. However, whether this role is conserved at the crayfish NMJ remains unclear. In this study, we attempted to determine...

ABSTRACT
Fluoxetine (Prozac) is a frequently prescribed antidepressant, identified as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Prozac’s function as an SSRI leads to the popular belief that its antidepressant mechanism is related simply to an increased serotonin level in the...

ABSTRACT
The aim of this experiment was to explore the effects of the neuropeptide FMRFamide (FMRFa) on the crayfish neuromuscular junction (CNJ). In previous experiments, DF2, a FMRFa-like peptide, has been shown to increase neurotransmitter (NT) release at the CNJ. We...

ABSTRACT
Ca2+ is a key second messenger in many organisms; this include being essential for neurotransmitter release. Control of extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]o) is critical in the human body; imbalances are associated with a large variety of neurological disorders. The Calcium...

ABSTRACT
The neurotransmitter octopamine raises the amplitude of excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSP) in crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Previous studies have ruled out a connection between octopamine’s effects and cAMP or cGMP systems, suggesting another secondary...

View this article as PDF: Macfarlane, Most, and Zucker
ABSTRACT
Endocannabinoids are retrograde transmitters, which inhibit the release of neurotransmitters. We hypothesized that endocannabinoids would operate similarly in crayfish neuromuscular junctions as they do at other...

Students are working as neuroscientists in Clark Lingren’s The Language of Neurons, an introduction to biology course.
In 2000, Grinnell College turned the biology curriculum upside down, involving entry-level biology students in cutting-edge research and offering a unique,...

Group Info

As a neuroscience concentrator, you use methods and theories spanning disciplines from biochemistry to psychology to investigate the function of the nervous system. You can participate in an annual neuroscience retreat, middle school outreach, and a capstone seminar, along with...